A-Data Nobility Series N005 32GB review

A speedy USB 3.0 flash drive

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Our Verdict

For

Big capacity

Speedy

Compact

Against

Expensive

Doesn't stand out from the crowd

The A-Data Nobility Series N005 USB 3.0 flash drive is capable of holding a huge 32GB of data. While the security implications of carrying around so much important information on such a small, easy to lose device are partially addressed by the iStorage datAshur, there is the other matter of how long it takes to transfer 32GB of data. Even if you don't copy over the entire 32GB, any large file can still take its time to jump from hard drive to USB.

Because the A-Data Nobility Series N005 is a USB 3.0 device, when plugged into a compatible port it means transfer speeds are much zippier. While transfer times aren't the 10x speed of USB 2.0 that we have long been promised, they're not too bad, with read and write transfer rates of 18.5MB/s and straight read times of an impressive 100.9MB/s.

In our real-world tests this translated in a 2.60GB folder with 13,001 files being copied over to the A-Data Nobility Series N005 in just four minutes. If you're tired of waiting around for large files to be copied to and from your USB drives, then the upgrade will be worthwhile, provided that you have a PC with USB 3.0 ports.

Priced at around £50 in the UK and $90 in the US for the 32GB version, this USB flash drive works out cheaper per gigabyte than the Dane-Elec Batman 4GB USB drive and the LaCie FastKey 120GB, and roughly the same price as the Kingston HyperX MAX 3.0 120GB. A 16GB version of the Adata nobility series N005 is also available, selling for around £30 or US$45, while a 64GB model costs significantly more, at £120, or US$150.

Verdict

It's small, fast and holds plenty of data. However, the A-Data N005 USB 3.0 drive's only major problem is standing out from the crowd, and it doesn't quite do enough to make you choose this over one of its competitors.

Tech Specs

Product Type

Flash Drive

Brand Name

Adata

Storage Capacity

32 GB

Host Interface

USB 3.0

Manufacturer

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd

Product Model

N005

Product Name

32GB Nobility N005 USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Manufacturer Part Number

AN005-32G-CGY

Manufacturer Website Address

http://www.adata-group.com/uk

Marketing Information

Leading the industry in innovation and design, ADATA completes its USB 3.0 solution lineup with the introduction of this new USB 3.0 flash drive. N005 is perfectly positioned to fulfill the growing need for faster data transfer in personal portable storage for every-day computing. It takes advantage of the enhanced bandwidth of USB 3.0 and delivers transfer speed up to 85 MB/s based on real-world tests, outperforming the conventional USB 2.0 by nearly 300% 1.